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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Sustainable Food Processing
Volume 8 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1502468

Incorporating circularity, sustainability, and systems thinking into an assessment framework for transformative food system innovation

Provisionally accepted
Alexander Moores Alexander Moores 1*Dimitris Charalampopoulos Dimitris Charalampopoulos 2Adrian Williams Adrian Williams 3Ximena Schmidt Rivera Ximena Schmidt Rivera 1
  • 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United Kingdom
  • 2 Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, England, United Kingdom
  • 3 Department of Environmental Sciences and Technology, Cranfield University, Cranfield, East of England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The transition towards a circular economy in the food system is posited as way to harmonise the provision safe, ample and accessible food to a growing population with the reduction the food system's widespread impact on natural resources, the environment, and human health. Within the context of circular food innovation, there is an abundance of assessment approaches allowing researchers to evaluate and guide new technologies, applications, and products. However, specialist circularity tools are underutilised. This research draws from wider circular economy discourse, sustainability assessment methods, and systems-transitions theory to propose a novel framework to appraise and guide circular food innovation. Through a systematic literature review and critical analysis, this work highlights the limitations of existing methods based on a multi-disciplinary lens. In lieu of robust circularity metrics, elaborations within the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology provide a comprehensive sustainability and circularity assessment, while crossdisciplinary approaches inform the development of technological trajectories in line with systemtransitions theories. The proposed framework aims to bridge this gap by providing a holistic approach that incorporates systems perspectives and considers the wider dynamics of sustainability and circular economy via future scenario modelling. By integrating these perspectives, the framework facilitates earlier intervention and broader stakeholder engagement in the sustainability assessment process. Examined primarily within the context of food manufacturing, this work provides new tools for academic research and industrial practitioners, driving transformative change towards a more sustainable and circular food system.

    Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment, Sustainability transitions, Circular economy, Bio-economy, Food manufacture

    Received: 26 Sep 2024; Accepted: 30 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Moores, Charalampopoulos, Williams and Schmidt Rivera. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alexander Moores, Department of Chemical Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.